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Thursday December 13, 2012 5:25 AM

• THE GOOD folks who support the Ohio Wildlife Center with their donations and
volunteer hours no doubt value every kindness shown to all creatures that come into their care,
right down to the gimp-winged birdie found in a backyard and delivered in a shoebox carefully lined
with tissues and torn-up bread.

But they must take special joy in the occasional Big Save, such as the one that brought a bald
eagle to the Northwest Side center recently for some life-saving medical treatment and physical
therapy. The bird apparently was hit by a car on the side of I-77 near Marietta and stood
helplessly by the roadside, a fractured coracoid bone (rather like a collar bone) preventing it
from flying.

Lucky for the bird, someone called 911, and the Ohio Highway Patrol knew to take it to the
center. Left on its own, the bird likely would have succumbed to infection, but veterinarians gave
it antibiotics and antifungal medicine and, after a period of “cage rest,” moved it into large barn
that serves as a “pre-release center.” Center employees have been coaxing the bird to fly back and
forth between perches in the 90-foot barn, rebuilding its flying strength.

For those who value the wild, the center is a wonderful asset, both for the care it gives
wildlife and the opportunities it gives people to view nature up close.

• THE ‘LAYAWAY angels’ are back this Christmas, paying off strangers’ toy tabs to
help struggling families. What a wonderful new holiday tradition.

These good-hearted donors started appearing last year, in the gloom of widespread unemployment
and recession, as stores revived the old practice of offering layaway to help shoppers set aside
gifts they can’t immediately afford.

Store managers report this year that they’re seeing some familiar “angel” faces back at the
counter, and some new ones, too. A Kmart manager told
The Dispatch that about two dozen strangers already have stepped up to pay off layaway
tabs this year at his Grove City store.

Most of the angels ask to stay anonymous, choose accounts near or in default, and don’t stick
around to see the tears of gratitude as parents discover that their children will get the toys,
after all.

To encourage the trend, Toys R Us has set up a matching gift for every layaway balance settled
by a stranger. The corporation will donate up to $1 million for the Marine Toys for Tots
Foundation.

In the hustle and bustle of the season, the layaway angels rekindle the true spirit of
Christmas.